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Safety boat duty on an out to sea cruise. Big tides and light winds.

A decent wind (gusting maybe F5) for a storming sail on Nigel's Dart. Some excellent speeds with a top speed of over 17 knots - probably the fastest I've been under sail. Top stuff

Down river and out to sea (a little bit) on Nigel's Dart. Light, and sometimes non-existent, winds suggested that venturing too far on an outgoing tide might be a problem. Interesting tacking back up the estuary against…

Beach cafe and just a bit beyond on Nigel's Dart 18. A day of lulls and gusts. A max speed of 14.6 knots is just a bit faster than I'm used to with my Wayfarer

An SYC dinghy cruise out to sea that actually made it out to sea! It looked as though there would be no wind at all for quite a while but gentle F2 / F3 filled in for most of the time.

"Officer of the day" and safety boat duty on an out to sea dinghy cruise that coincided with the Dawlish Air Show. A few dramas a long the way but saw the Red Arrows and, later, the battle of Britain memorial flight (inc…

Liz's first safety boat drive since getting her "Power Boat 2" training. An out to sea dinghy cruise - out as far as the fairway buoy anyway.

Im not a great footie fan. In fact even though the Wayfarer had somewhat of a leak a solo sail to off Dawlish seemed like the best way of avoiding the match Unsurprisingly the 7.7 knots max boat speed was just off the Wa…

SYC's "Push The Boat Out" day to offer people a taster of dinghy sailing. A very successful day - about 70 people got to try sailing and the winds were an ideal F2 to F3. Liz got to try helming a Topper on dry land!

A glorious summer's day paddle with Marija and Jeremy L. Up the Avon from Bantham Beach to Aveton Gifford. Even Scooby Hound seemed to be quite content to be on the kayak. The GPX track is fake (so ignore the graph) - th…

With Marija and Jeremy L for a kayak paddle along the Grand Western Canal from Boehill Bridge to a bit past Halberton. A lovely trip with a bit of stroppy swan action on the return! All the rather splendid WhatsApp imag…

With Nigel H in the inflatable Sea Eagle. Down against some tide and sea breeze to Bull Hill Bank. Then a lovely drift back with the tide and wind. Thanks to Derek H for the drone pics!

With Marija and Jeremy L for a sea paddle from Seaton Beach out past Beer to Beer Head. Lovely paddle. Unfortunately, our Sea Eagle 485 inflatable kayak sprung a leak in one of the air chambers. Happily it was a slow lea…

Down to the Pole Sands with Jeremy and Marija L. Accompanying an SYC dinghy cruise. After we forgot Scooby Hound's tennis ball, Marija very kindly bought him a ball on a rope. Which he promptly destroyed! Followed up wi…

First time out in the inflatable kayak this year. A lovely day and a lovely paddle for lunch in the Pole Sands and then a little explore round the far side of the Pole Sands.

A paddle with Marija and Jeremy L up the Clyst as far as the Bridge Inn at Topsham. Quite neapy so not a lot of water at the mouth of the Clyst (even near the top of the tide). Wind was probably the F3 gusting F5 adverti…

Hot and not too windy, so a lovely kayak trip around Burgh Island and then towards Bantham Beach. Scooby loved Bigbury Beach.

A paddle into Padstow Harbour and then up Petherick Creek. The creek was interesting but not quite "Helford standard".

A paddle down from SYC to the beach cafe with Marija and Jeremy L. Very pleasant paddle around the low tide. Strangely, a very foggy day for some of it. Passed Nigel H's "office" on the way back and then Nellynui once la…

A second puncture (in a about 4 year's use) in our Sea Eagle 465 inflatable kayak put paid to our kayaking plans for the day. Instead we spent a bit of time on Bar Beach on the Helford avoiding the day's strongest sun. S…

Too little wind to go sailing so Malcolm B and I headed down river in the Sea Eagle kayak

Tye's first time out in the Sea Eagle kayak. He was quite unsure to start with but settled in to it a little bit. Unfortunately, the trip was much shorter than anticipated as we found we had a slow leak in the left chamb…

A truly superb day out kayaking on Ronas Voe on the north west of Shetland. Organised by Jason of Sea kayak Shetland - https://www.seakayakshetland.co.uk/ - and thoroughly recommended. The geology is amazing with cliffs,…

Down from SYC to the Pole Sands. Scooby a very happy dog (when at the Pole Sands). Saw Colin and Averil Y on Dawlish Warren with their inflatable kayak

Up river from SYC to Topsham Quay and back via Lympstone. Cold day but plenty warm enough under the drysuit. Absolutely no wind!

Back on the water at Christchurch Harbour for the first time in probably 40 years. Learnt to sail at (what was then) the Marine Training Centre (now the Hengistbury Head Outdoor Education Centre), Sailed a Wayfarer and M…

A solo paddle up to Topsham Quay. Abandoned by the wife - some excuse about having to work. "Rescued" a fishing boat that had run aground by taking their kedge anchor out to deeper water so they could pull themselves off…

From Mylor Harbour up past King Harry ferry with lunch on Roundwood Quay and Trelissick. Scooby much happier on the inflatable Sea Eagle kayak.

A change to normal by putting the kayak in the water on the south side of the Helford Estuary (at Helford itself). Explored Frenchman's Creek and then up[ almost as far at Bishop's Quay (but ran out of water at neaps). L…

Up to the motorway bridge in the Sea Eagle kayak. A bit of exercise on the way back paddling against the sea breeze that came in